Mightier than the Sword
by Bard Kayna
Summary: Set after the end of the Scanran war, this story features a new type of heroine- not a knight, mage, or spy, but someone purely academic- hence the title. R&R please! This is my second fanfic, so be nice. :


**Disclaimer- Tamora Pierce owns all of this. Not me. End of story.**

**This was inspired by the fact that Tamora Pierce has written about two lady knights, a mage, a spy, and a policewoman, but not about someone who is purely academical. Also, there seems to be very few mentions of female scholars who were not also mages. So I invented a heroine who would prove that women **_**are**_** just as intelligent as men- not that anyone would dare say otherwise within the Lioness's hearing. **

Vinita Senalda grinned as her horse trotted up the busy streets of Corus. Life in Tortall was good. The Scanran war had ended and there was peace in the country. Suddenly, a tavern brawl spilled out onto the street in front of her. Vinita grinned wider. _Relative _peace, anyway.

Vinita's horse trotted onward, towards the University. Even though she had barely enough magical power to light a candle, she'd been accepted based on the fact that at the age of nine she'd completed the schooling given to every child - even though that schooling normally went on until thirteen. When she was thirteen she'd started keeping the inn's ledgers for her father, because she was better at sums.

Vinita's mother and father were the owners of _The Lion's Head_, a tavern and inn in Pirate's Swoop. As a young child she'd hero-worshipped the Lioness, until the day she found out that commoners couldn't be knights. As soon as she discovered her academic ability, she'd resolved to be the best female scholar the world had ever seen. Since she was her parents' third child, she'd been encouraged to follow her dream. The inn was relatively wealthy, since a great deal of people- many of them spies for Baron George- stayed there on business. Her family could afford to send her to University, and so she'd left as soon as she received their acceptance letter.

The University gates were looming ahead, interrupting Vinita's thoughts. She trotted through, and then set out to find the stables.

After ten minutes of searching, she realized it was useless. The University was a huge building, right next to the palace. Trying to find the stables in the midst of all the buildings would be hopeless. _All right,_ she thought. _They'll probably be around the front or sides, not in the middle of all this. _She trotted back to the gate, and grinned again. It was probably some kind of test. Now she was determined to use pure logic to find the stables, without asking anyone. _Watch where the other horses go. That'll be it. _She chose her "guide" carefully. He was not as young as she was, so he had been there last year, at least- meaning he knew where the stables were.

Sure enough, after about five minutes, they arrived.

" Heyla, lass. You new?" She looked up into the face of the University hostler. He smiled. "You don't have to do anything. I'll get yer horse a-stabled up, no problem." He turned. "You know about the fees?" Vinita did. Stabling a horse cost money, after all. She nodded. "Clever lass." He led her horse off.

Vinita exited the stables. After some more searching, she located the office. She walked up to a clerk behind a small desk with a plaque with "Admissions" engraved on it. The clerk looked up, then consulted a piece of paper.

"You're Vinita Senalda?"

"That would be me, yes."

The clerk nodded. "I'll get someone to show you where your rooms are." She waved another employee over. He took Vinita out of the building, across the University campus, and to another large building. They entered and went up a flight of stairs and through another hallway, all lined with doors. He stopped at a small door, just like the rest. Then he handed Vinita a key and a small piece of paper.

"Here you are, Number 139. Here's your key, and this is your class schedule. There's a map on the back. Then he left. Vinita took a deep breath and opened the door to her new life.

**So, how did you like the first chapter? Please review! Oh, and if you were wondering, Vinita Senalda means, literally, "knowledge, victory, power". *grins***


End file.
